The Commenwealth and Problems of World Trade & Development

PROBLEMS of world trade and development fall into three broad groups. Firstly, there are questions relating to primary commodities, such as the kinds of national and international measures that can be taken to stabilise prices and regulate production. Secondly, there are the problems relating to exports of manufactured goods, the main issue being how to make markets in the developed countries more accessible. And finally, there are the various issues relating to aid. This paper begins with a brief survey of trends in Commonwealth trade. It discusses all the three sets of problems, particularly as they affect the countries of the Commonwealth. Throughout it emphasises those issues on which action can be taken by the Commonwealth as a whole or where action by an individual Commonwealth country, such as the United Kingdom, is of particular importance.